ALL THINGS RESEARCH

Geophysics of the environment

Over the past few years I have added near-surface geophysics to my research. I use geophysical tools (equipment», software») in unconventional ways to explore archaeology, geoarchaeology, uderground water flow, water inflitration in historical monuments and other environmental issues.
Living, working and leading student field trips in the North East and in the Lakes district, with their rich historical, prehistorical and natural backgroung, opened for me a myriad of opportunities to explore what is under our feet in everyday's life. What with Hardrian's wall, the ultimate frontier of the Roman empire. Aand those who dwelled on these hills before (bronze age) and after (medieval)? Arriving here straight from Rome where I lived for more than ten years it feels like I am not so far from home after all with all these ancient stones. But here the artifacts are mostly underground. We need to dig, or... use geophysics!
Also, you' be right to ask, with all this rain where does the water go?? Not so easy, mate! Yes there are rivers, and streams, and man-made drains but there are also mysterious underground channels and flows through the dirt and water sinking in and pouring out of the ground further astray... And loads of abandoned coal mines that are flooded with water, too.
Now how about that mine water, is it warm? Sure enough it's warmer than the chilling air at these latitudes in the winter, so part of that relative heat can be extracted with heat pumps and used to warm up houses or greenhouses or malls... Wait a miniute, now we're talking about geothermal energy! And we're not even close to Iceland. Is this a thing? It is and you can find more on this at THE GEMS PROJECT
The rain (yes, again!) also falls on buildings, roads and bridges. Some of them are historic stone-made monuments. The water always finds its way, even through masonery structures, if they are ageing and not well conserved. If we can make a topmographic image of underground water paths with geophysics, why can't we image the water paths through buildings? It turns out that I tried this out with the help of students and colleagues and you can see some results at PREBENDS BRIDGE.
And as far as being up to our elbows in the mud with all the recent rain, we might as well go all the way. That's why we decided with a group of students to inspect a breached dam as part of their field trip.

Keep posted for more geophysics soon to come with ventures in archaelogy, flooded grazing fields and the search for a lost dam buried in the sandy loams of an estuary...